Read Online Ed McBain by Learning to Kill: Stories - Free Book Online

Ferdy said.
    "Yeah," I answered.
    We were an quiet for a little while.
    "Where's A?" Beef asked.
    "I don't know," I told him. "The hell with that little jerk anyway."
    "He got an inside wire, all right," Ferdy said. "He was the first cat to tumble to this."
    "Yeah," I said. I was thinking about the look on Donlevy's face when those slugs ripped him up.
    "How'd he tip to it, anyway?"
    "He spotted Harry in the hall. Going up to Louise."
    "Oh." Ferdy was quiet for a while. "Harry see him?"
    "Yeah."
    "He should have been more careful."
    "A guy like Harry, he got lots of things on his mind. You think he's gonna worry about a snot nose like A?"
    "No, but what I mean ... somebody blew the whistle on him."
    "Sure, but that don't..." I cut myself dead. "Hey!" I said.
    "What?"
    "Aiello."
    "Aiello what?"
    "I'll bet he done it! Why, I'll bet that little crumb done it!"
    "Tipped the cops to Harry, you mean?"
    "Sure! Who else? Why, that little..."
    "Now, hold it, Danny. Now don't jump to..."
    "Who else knew it?"
    "Anybody could have spotted Harry."
    "Sure, except nobody did." I waited a minute, thinking, and then I said, "Come on."
    We began combing the neighborhood. We went down to the poolroom, and we combed the bowling alley, and then we hit the rooftops, but Aiello was no place around. We checked the dance in the church basement, and we checked the Y, but there was still no sign of him.
    "Maybe he's home," Ferdy said.
    "Don't be a jerk."
    "It's worth a try."
    "Okay," I said.
    We went to the building where Aiello lived. In the hallway, Beef said, "Somebody here."
    "Shut up," Ferdy said. We went up to Aiello's apartment and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" he answered. "Me," I said. "Danny."
    "What do you want, Danny?"
    "I want in. Open up."
    "I'm in bed."
    "Then get out of bed."
    "I'm not feeling so hot, Danny."
    "Come on, we got some pot."
    "I don't feel like none."
    "This is good stuff."
    "I ain't interested, Danny."
    "Open up, you jerk," I told him. "You want the Law to know we're holding?"
    "Danny, I..."
    "Open up!" I began pounding on the door and I knew that'd get him out of bed, if that's where he was, because his folks are a quiet type who don't like trouble with the neighbors.
    In a few seconds, Aiello opened the door.
    I smiled at him and said, "Hello, A."
    We all went inside. "Your people home?"
    "They went visiting."
    "Oh, visiting, huh? Very nice."
    "Yeah."
    "Like you was doing with Louise this afternoon, huh?"
    "Yeah, I suppose," Aiello said.
    "When you spotted Harry."
    "Yeah."
    "And then what'd you do?"
    "I told you."
    "You went into Louise's apartment, that right?"
    "Yes, I..." Aiello paused, as if he was trying to remember what he'd told me before. "No, I didn't go in. I went down in the street to look for you."
    "You like this gang, A?"
    "Yeah, it's good," Aiello said. "Then why you lying to me?"
    "I ain't lying."
    "You know you wasn't looking for me."
    "I was."
    "Look, tell me the truth. I'm a fair guy. What do I care if you done something you shouldn't have."
    "I didn't do nothing I shouldn't have," Aiello said. "Well, you did do something then, huh?"
    "Nothing."
    "Come on, A, what'd you do?"
    "Nothing."
    "I mean, after you left Louise?"
    "I went to look for you."
    "And before you found me?"
    "Nothing."
    "Did you blow the whistle on Harry?"
    "Hell no!"
    "You did, didn't you? Look, he's dead, what do I care what you done or didn't do? I ain't the Law."
    "I didn't turn him in."
    "Come on, A."
    "He deserved what he got. But I didn't turn him in."
    "He deserved it, huh?"
    "Yeah. He was rotten. Anybody rotten like Harry..."
    "Shut up!"
    "...should have the whistle..."
    "Shut up, I said!" I slapped him across the mouth. "Did you?"
    He dummied up. "Answer me!"
    "No."
    I slapped him again. "Answer me!"
    "No."
    "You did, you punk! You called the cops on Harry, and now he's dead, and you ain't fit to lick his boots!"
    "He was a killer!" Aiello yelled. "That's why I called them. He was no good. No damn good. He was a stink in